Closest U.S. Presidential Elections

In the early days, electors voted for both a President and V.P. The tie between Jefferson and Burr changed that practice. Alexander Hamilton saw Jefferson as the lesser of two evils and wrote a scathing review of Aaron Burr. Burr challenged Hamilton to a duel and killed him.

In 1824, Andrew Jackson won the most electors, but since there were four candidates, he did not secure a majority in the electoral college. The election was turned over to the federalist controlled house of representatives where they chose their candidate, John Quincy Adams as President.

The 1876 election is the most controversial ever. Still mired in reconstruction following the civil war, the democratic south’s candidate won the popular vote by 3%. The republican controlled senate contested the electors of 4 states. Tilden only need one state while Hayes needed all 4. A 15 person commission (8 rep, 7 dem) was set up do award the disputed electors. The commission voted along party lines and each state was awarded to Hayes. The senate upheld the results while the house disputed the results. A compromise was reached when the republicans agreed to remove troops from the south and end reconstruction.